This invention relates to caster sockets and is particularly directed to the formation of a socket which has improved resistance to abuse and simplifies the installation in an article of furniture.
A great many casters are mounted with the swivel post fitted into a hole bored into the leg or member of the article needing casters for rendering it movable. While the hole can be made to fit the swivel post in its original condition, the forces imposed will soon cause the swivel post to loosen and cause damage or enlarge the hole. Some casters are mounted in sockets which are held in the furniture by screws, and the screws usually extend through an external flange which in time will work the screws loose. These caster mountings are fine when new, but in time will work loose and often will permanently damage the furniture so that efforts to effect repairs is expensive or even not practical.
Furniture of current designs is especially difficult to caster in view of the extensive use of chipboard material which is easily damaged by screws or nails used with the types of caster sockets heretofore available. However, the caster socket of this invention is arranged with means to engage the article at opposed areas so that the initial fit is relatively undisturbed by rough usage.
It is an important object of this invention to provide a caster socket with the greatest ability to withstand hard usage by forming the socket with sufficient surface contact area to restrict the unit loading so that the surrounding body of material of the article is able to retain its original condition for long periods of time.
Other important objects of this invention are to provide an inexpensive yet strong caster socket which can be installed easily and is easily replaceable; to provide means for avoiding the use of screws and for relocating holding means so that the usual forces imposed on a caster socket are removed from the holding means; to provide a caster socket molded of materials that have the necessary strength and are capable of being plated or treated so as to harmonize with the surface texture and color of the article in which it is mounted; and to provide a caster socket requiring a simple slot or notch to receive it so that face and back flanges are able to abut the margins of the slot or notch with a large enough area of contact to keep the unit loads at an advantageous low value so that the stress is not likely to damage the caster socket or article of furniture.
A presently preferred embodiment of the caster socket includes a body formed with an elongated socket open at one end to receive the swivel post of a caster, a pair of flanges which extend along opposite sides of the body and beyond the end opposite the socket opening so that the body and the flanges form seats to receive the article to which the caster is to be applied, and means on one of the flanges to mark an area thereof to receive securing means which holds the caster socket in operative position. The caster socket is formed of moldable plastic material as a unitary article and is applied by being mounted in a slot or similar opening in the article of furniture so that the flanges and socket body absorb the loads, and securing means engaged between a flange and the adjacent surface of the furniture is substantially free of the sheer and tension stresses heretofore normally imposed by conventional types of caster sockets.